Introduction: Mortality caused by ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) has declined because of greater use of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). It is unknown if patients >75 have similar survival as peers. We aim to know it stratifying by sex and assessing how the sex may impact the survival.
Methods: We retrospectively selected all patients >75 who suffered a STEMI treated with primary PCI at our institution. We compared their survival with that of the reference population (general population matched by age, sex, and geographical region). A Cox-regression analysis controlling for clinical factors was performed to know if sex was a risk factor.
Results: Total of 450 patients were studied. Survival at 1, 3, and 5 years of follow-up for patients who survived the first 30 days was 91.22% (CI95% 87.80-93.72), 79.71% (CI95% 74.58-83.92), and 68.02% (CI95% 60.66-74.3), whereas in the reference population it was 93.11%, 79.10%, and 65.01%, respectively. Sex was not a risk factor, Hazard Ratio = 1.02 (CI95% 0.67-1.53; p = 0.92).
Conclusions: Life expectancy of patients suffering a STEMI is nowadays intimately linked to survival in the first 30 days. After one year, the risk of death for both men and women seems similar to that of the general population.
Keywords: gender; life expectancy; myocardial infarction.